The 1908 Olympics

                                                1908 Olympics

     The 1908 Olympics had a rocky beginning. It took a while for a decision to be made about where the Games would be held.  Four bids were submitted for the prospective location: Rome, Milan, London and Berlin. Although White City, London was ultimately chosen as the hosting location, it was not the first choice.  Rome was originally chosen to host the games, but the eruption of Mount Vesuvius affected this choice and forced the officials to decide upon an alternate location. It was the first time in history that the Olympics were held in London. Since it was somewhat short notice they had to prepare rather quickly. They constructed the white city stadium to 68,000 people and the track was made 536 meters, this was longer than the standard track size, which was 400 meters.

Inside the track the swimming pool and platforms for wrestling and gymnastics were set up. The opening ceremonies, for this fourth Olympiad year, commenced on April 27 and were brought to a close on October 31. This six-month period for the summer Olympics games made it the longest in Olympic History and considered by most to be exciting.

Sources:
http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/Olympika/Olympika_2000/olympika0901h.pdfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1908_Summer_Olympics